Various materials are dried and cured through application of various environmental conditions of the surrounding environment. More specifically, organic materials, such as plant materials, are typically dried and cured after harvest. Drying and curing depends in part on temperature, humidity and air flow, and it is desirable to control and monitor those conditions in drying materials.
Prior art teaches the use of drying and curing chambers and speeding up the drying process by the use of humidifiers or dehumidifiers and fans and the control of temperature to dry plant materials and other materials.
For example, United States Patent Application 20150096189 to Hawes discusses a method for curing plant material comprising loading the material into a chamber, setting the humidity of the chamber to a first humidity level for a first time period, setting the humidity of the chamber to a second humidity level until the water content of the cannabis material reaches a first desired percentage. The method may further comprise setting the temperature of the chamber to a first temperature for the first time period.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,221,027 to Kuppler discusses a system having a curing chamber that contains the material to be cured and a gas that contains carbon dioxide. The system includes apparatus that can deliver carbon dioxide to displace ambient air upon loading the system, that can provide carbon dioxide as it is needed and as it is consumed, that can control carbon dioxide concentration, temperature and humidity in the curing chamber during the curing cycle and that can record and display to a user the variables that occur during the curing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,972,413 to Krogdahl discusses a system and device for delivery of light-based radiation energy to a curable material which is contained in a vessel. The system and device is for use with materials wherein light-based energy may be used to initiate the curing process. Such materials include, but are not limited to, adhesives such as epoxies or acrylics which contain photo initiators. With such materials, curing can be initiated by exposure to radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum such as ultraviolet (UV) or infra-red (IR) light.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,335 to Marley discusses a method and apparatus for curing tobacco and more particularly to a method and apparatus for curing tobacco which utilizes a dual chamber tobacco curer and a forced air system for separately curing the leaf and the stem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,956 to De Lange discusses curing tobacco leaf in a curer where heated air is circulated through the curer and controlled so that a first temperature is maintained in the curer for a given period of time. During this period the relative humidity level is reduced to a desired level. Thereafter a maximum predetermined temperature difference is maintained between upper and lower zones in the curer to dry the leaf.
However, the prior art does not provide a machine, system and method that provides automated drying and curing chambers that use customized variable settings and laminar air flow dynamics via negative pressure to ensure the optimal curing and drying environment for materials.